Our grocery store are a card. This card is awesome. When scanned at the register, you get discounts on some of the items in your purchase. Also for every $50 you spend, you earn 10 cents off gas at their station. Feeding a family of four, that 10 cents can add very fast. Especially when their are extra deals every so often. Buy 4 boxes of this brand of cereal and you can earn an extra 10 cents. Um... yes please. We like cereal.

Last month I noticed that I had $2 off a tank of gas. I got online to find out when this amount expires (your earnings are only good for a 3 month period). I had until the end of November before some of what I had earned would expire. So I began to hoard my gas discounts (aka feulperks).

Four boxes of fruit snacks? Okdon't judge

Five boxes of GoGurts? My kids will eat them until they turn into yogurt!

I was turning into the gas discount version of an extreme couponer. But it was well worth it.

Monday the gauge wasn't as close to "E" as I would have liked, but we needed gas. We wouldn't have made it to the husband's work if we didn't fill up. I made sure to remind the husband to scan our grocery card at the pump to we could cash in our earnings.

I must say I'm a little disappointed that there weren't bells, whistles, and confetti when we were done pumping because neither of us have ever paid so little for so much gas.

Gas here is $3.39With our discounts we paid9.9 cents per gallon!!!

Which put our total for 8.8 gallons at...

87 cents

I know. We're awesome!

Sorry about the crappy pictures! I didn't feel like getting out of the car to take a picture in the rain. My computer is also being dumb and won't let me crop the pictures.

My Thanksgiving was spent with my family. The holiday was full of good food, lots of laugh, and of course, pouring over the Black Friday ads.

My mom and I are Black Friday shoppers, but we're not the crazy ones. We could care less about the big deals and have no desire to stand in line with hundreds for hours over a tv when the store only has 8 in stock. But that doesn't mean we don't hit the mall early - early enough for the good sales, but late enough to miss the crazies.

This year while we were shopping I picked up a hitch hiker - our very own Elf on the Shelf. I have thought about bringing one home for quite some time now. Like every other kid out there, mine go nuts this time of year. I had hoped by bringing this guy home, the kids' behavior would improve, thus saving my sanity.

Friday night we welcomed the elf into our home. I explained to GG and Little Dude that his job wouldn't start until we read his story and gave him a proper name. We read the story, learned the rules, and after much debate, they finally decided to name our elf Geno.

We have had a few bumps in the road, but behavior seems to be improving. I just hope the mischief Geno causes doesn't influence the kids in how they decide to act!

Geno wasted no time getting into things. The very next morning he was found wrapped in a string of beads, surrounded by pieces of red garland from the railing above.

Little Dude, who wanted to play with the toys in the box Geno was on, decided to move him to another part of the room. Touching Geno is against one of the rules. Warning Little Dude, I told him I hoped Geno's magic wasn't gone and he could still report to Santa every night.

Luckily that warning was enough, because Geno moved onto playing with Little Dude's toys the next morning. It took the kids quite some time to find him. I guess Geno had picked an ideal spot to play without being disturbed.

The kids, Little Dude in particular, wonder aloud every night as to where Geno will end up in the morning. I can't wait to discover the places he can hide.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Geno returned carrying a note from Santa about the things that were reported, good and bad. I hope Geno can hear my wish for a note because that would be a huge boost to my sanity!

Do you have your own Elf on the Shelf? What kind of crazy places does he hide?

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. Thankful is something you should be all year, but this time of year it is stressed. I have many things to be thankful for.

Even if they are a pain in my ass.

I am thankful for...

Mount Laundry

Not a day goes by where I don't have one pile or another of clothes to wash. But every time I trip over one of those piles or leave a trail of socks behind me as I walk down to the laundry room, I am reminded of how thankful I am we are able to all have clothes on our backs. Or the floor.

Skyscrapers of dishes in the sink

Or on the counter. GG and I share the responsibility of washing said dishes. If I'm not complaining about the lasagna that burned to the pan and won't come off, then I'm bribing her to actually wash them at a reasonable hour. No matter how much whining and crying I do over those dishes, I am reminded of thankful I am we are able to fill plates with food each and every night.

Children

Whether they are fighting or laughing, I know that they always have and always will love one another. I can't imagine my life without them. It is truly a miracle that the husband and I let them live this long created such beautiful creatures.

Creaky floors and leaky pipes

It is no secret that I hate this house. So many memories have been made here, but most days, it still doesn't feel like a home. Just a house. But no matter how I feel about this house of ours, I am always thankful that we have a roof over our heads.

Alarm clocks

Not a day goes by when I don't want to chuck them into the wall. Yes I said them. This chic loves her sleep! But since one of those alarms is on my phone, which I also love, I resist the urge to throw things at the butt crack of noon dawn. Instead of throwing, I remind myself that hearing my alarms every morning remind me that I am alive. And I am very thankful for that.

Coffee

Do I really need to explain this one?!

***********************

I am taking the remainder of this week off to enjoy a day of good food, followed by a long day of shopping. I hope everyone out there has a happy turkey day. May you gobble til you wobble!

I share clothes with my 10 year old daughter. Not a lot. Mostly shirts.

GG seems to know what she's doing when it comes to clothes. She loves colors and it apparently doesn't matte if things don't match. That seems to be the 'in" thing. I guess, by default, that kind of makes me cool, too. It's about damn time!

However, I must draw the line somewhere. I am doing my best to improve my wardrobe to avoid being the typical sweat and tee kind of mom, but I refuse to wear clothes from my childhood. In regards to an outfit GG put together over the weekend, the husband said she looked like she could be on a popular 80's tv show.

What do you think?

First off, can we classify those skinny jeans as acid wash?Probably.

Second, her bracelets...

Technically, those are Silly Bandz,but aren't those the updated versionof jelly bracelets?

And this one?

A slap bracelet.Do you know how many of those thingsI had at her age?!

Just because I want to look and act young does NOT mean I want to relive my youth. Especially the clothes! I'll leave that to my daughter. As long as she doesn't give herself bangs and tease them to high heaven, I think we're safe. That trend better not come back. Ever!!

Last week the Boy Scouts held their annual Space Derby. Each boy was given a kit to build their space ship. The husband glued the two blocks of wood together. Once they dried, he began to sand out the square into the shape of a rocket. The husband did the bulk o the sanding, but Little Dude definitely had a hand in it.

Once the husband deemed the shape of the space ship acceptable, it was handed over to me. My job was to then apply a base coat of paint. Sky blue was the color Little Dude picked. Once that was dry, Little Dude took over with a handful of brushes and a full palette of paint.

Last Friday, the husband added the propeller and the fins. Saturday afternoon we were off to the race. We were all worried as this was Little Dude's first time with this race. It was the husband's first time since this was an event his Boy Scout troop opted out of.

My boy's ship would bethe blue blur in the lead:)

By the end of the race, Little Dude's space ship had won 6 races before it was eliminated. Had he won just one more race, my boy would have placed third and that would have given him a trophy. The husband and I were a little disappointed that, for the second Boy Scout race, Little Dude was just one race shy of a trophy. But I don't think Little Dude cared. The race by itself was enough for him.

Over the weekend, GG celebrated her 10th birthday. I still don't think it's hit me that my child is a decade old. How the hell did that happen?! I had considered dedicating a blog post to this milestone birthday of hers, but time got away from me. Between birthdays and holidays, this time of year is nothing short of hectic and out of control.

But I don't really think GG will hold it against me that I didn't write some sweet post for her. Her cupcakes alone made up for the lack of sweetness on this blog.

Cute, right?!

Along with not writing a post for her, I also fell short on supplying a kick ass party. In my defense, I blame all the other parents in the area who also had their children around the same time as mine.

I told GG I would take her and a few friends for a few rounds of bowling and some pizza. Little did I know the bowling alley we planned to go was having 10-15 parties on the exact same day. A lane for the 5 of us would not be a guarantee. I have to give one of the employees some credit because she did try and secure us a lane, but it was a no go.

Again, I really don't think GG will hold it against me due to her awesome presents. Harry Potter Legos, board games, video games, a ton of clothes for her American Girl dolls, and this rockin' lamp...

I am so incredibly proud of my kids. They brought home their report cards last week. All A's and B's!! I am especially proud of Little Dude because honestly, I was a little worried.

Every day I ask what they did in school. GG will give me examples of math problems or a science project. Little Dude will tell me what he ate for lunch or what he played at recess. However, when we least expect it, or at night when he's supposed to be in bed trying to sleep, he will tell us all about a lesson from the day.

Over the past few days, Little Dude has been learning that you can change the beginning or end sound of a word to create another word. Sometimes the words rhyme while other times they make a whole new word. For example, "man" can be changed into "map". At the end of last week, he was learning what can happen when the end sound of a word is changed. This week they are working on changing the beginning sound. How do I know this? Well, let me explain...

The other night I took the kids with me to Target, which could be an entire post in itself as I left with much more than I originally planned for. As usual! During the short car ride home, GG was talking about her upcoming birthday. Little Dude began to ramble on about words that can be changed. I was nodding and "uh-huh"-ing so he knew I was paying attention, even though I was more worried about driving down a dark, twisty hill in the rain. And then I heard it.... Duck. Oh, this can't end well.

Luck

Puck

Muck

Buck

And finally he came to the mother of all curse words.

Thank goodness we were in the car away from the general public and thankfully he had no idea what he had just said.

Proud Mommy Momenthosted by Kmama and Emmy MomDo you have a proud (or "proud") momentfrom the week?

It is no surprise that things are constantly going missing in this house. We may not have a lot of room, but things seem to magically find their way into the deep, dark abyss. Never to be seen again.

Occasionally a Lego guy or that one, long Lincoln Log will turn up under the couch. But to this day, there are still puzzle pieces that have been missing since GG was a toddler, almost 8 years ago.

Most of those little toys, especially the Legos, I don't mind when they go missing. One less little toy to put away at the end of the day. But one thing that is guaranteed to go missing in this house is a glue stick. I have learned over the years to buy multiple packs at a time. I give the kids 2 each and stash the rest away for future use. Despite my valiant efforts, glue sticks continue to disappear left and right.

As annoying, and as costly, as missing glue sticks can be, they are like those little toys. A loss I can deal with. But this latest mystery really has me worried. I am missing a bottle of Elmer's Glue. A full bottle none the less. My lovely son taught me a few years ago that Elmer's Glue spilled on a carpet does not come up, no matter how much or how long you scrub.

I worry the day will come when we can finally move out of this house. On my last sweep through the house to make sure we didn't miss anything, I will find that bottle of Elmer's lying in a corner somewhere surrounded by a stiff, dry puddle of clear glue.

This is a mystery I really need to solve. Our landlord is pretty easy going, but I don't think even he would appreciate dried glue on the carpets.